


A Shadowhunter Christmas

by NarryMusings



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M, Niall goes a bit crazy with Christmas basically, Of Demons and Angels, Shadowhunter AU, Shadowhunter!Harry, Shadowhunter!Liam, Shadowhunter!Louis, Shadowhunter/Human-Faerie!Niall, Simon is only kinda sorta there, Zayn is mentioned (but please don't get mad lol), and Perrie and Jade only get a line or two each, starts out a teensy bit angty and then gets kinda fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 19:39:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9008191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryMusings/pseuds/NarryMusings
Summary: Shadowhunters don't celebrate Christmas. But Niall does, and he's going to. (Even if the whole of the Institute goes against him.)





	

“What the bloody hell is that?”

Niall pauses, where his arms are raised above his head trying to find the hook he’d just placed on the door to his and Harry’s bedroom behind the wreath in his hands, to glance over his shoulder at where Louis is, standing behind him with his arms crossed over his check. The blond raises an eyebrow. “It’s…a wreath..?” he says slowly, uncertainly.

Louis scoffs. “I know that, but why it is- What are you doing with it?”

“It’s Christmas in three weeks, Tommo,” Niall reminds him. “I’m hanging it up, along with all the others. He gestures down the hallway, at all the other doors that have little wreaths hanging on them, and it’s like Louis is only now seeing them for the first time.

“Niall, mate, we’re Shadowhunters.”

“I’m aware of that, Louis. Thanks.”

Louis shakes his head just as Niall turns his attention back to finding the hook. “No, you don’t understand. Shadowhunters don’t celebrate Christmas.”

Niall laughs. “What? You guys have demons and faeries and literal angels – but you don’t celebrate Christmas.” He smiles as he finally finds the hook, and then sets the back of the wreath on top of it.

Louis rolls his eyes. “Angels and faeries don’t have to go hand-in-hand with Christmas, Newbie.”

Niall blinks as he turns around to face the Shadowhunter behind him. “You’re serious…”

“Uh-oh,” Harry snorts, as he rounds the corner. “Louis is almost never serious, not even inbattle. What’s he being serious about this time?”

“That apparently Shadowhunters don’t celebrate Christmas,” Niall scoffs, folding his arms over his chest to mirror Louis.

“Not apparently, Blondie. We just- Don’t.”

Niall looks at Harry, eyebrows raised incredulously. “Is he serious?”

Harry frowns. “Unfortunately-“

“Well, too bad,” Niall huffs. He bends down to grab the bag of decorations off the floor next to him. “I’m decorating for Christmas, and I’m going to celebrate Christmas, and nobody is going to stop me.”

“Harold, control your boyfriend.”

Harry sighs. “Lou-“

Niall snorts. “How long have you known me, Tommo? You should know by now that I can’t be controlled.”

Louis smirks. “That’s not what I hear through the wall-“

“Louis!” Harry scolds, brows furrowed in frustration. “Stop coaxing him into a fight. And, Niall- Stop letting him.”

“Look, I’m decorating whether you lot like it or not, yeah? And so help me, if anything gets taken down, I’ll turn your dick into stone.” He leaves, then, without another word, without a glance. He doesn’t even give Harry a kiss.

“He can’t actually do that, right?” Louis asks, sounding mildly concerned. “Like, I know he has magic, but he can’t actually do _that_.”

Harry sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why do you always have to fight him on everything?”

Louis shrugs. “Usually it’s just, like, brotherly banter. But this time he is actually wrong. Talk to him – preferably before Simon gets wind of this.”

X

“If you’ve come to try and talk me out of celebrating Christmas, you can turn around leave,” Niall mutters. He doesn’t even have to turn around from where he’s draping garland over the mantle above the fireplace in the sitting room to know who it is.

Harry sighs, pushes his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Niall…” he murmurs.

“Fine. But at least make yourself useful and hold this,” the blond says, handing his boyfriend the end portion of the garland. He’s going to snip the end off, and then find something else to use it for later.

“He’s right, y’know. Shadowhunters don’t celebrate Christmas. It’s, like- A billion year old rule.”

“I might be a ‘newbie’, Haz, but even I know that that’s an exaggeration.”

Harry shrugs. “Well, still-“

Niall sighs. He turns around to face Harry, as he steps down from the foot stool he’d found tucked away in a supply closet in the kitchens. “I get it, yeah? You don’t celebrate Christmas, fine. But I do, and I’m going to continue. If there’s something that I’m going to carry over into this new life, it’s going to be Christmas.”

Harry frowns. “Is that what this is about?”

“I’ve given up nearly everything, Harry. My flat, my job, my friends, most of my family… I’ve given up everything to be who I am now, and I’m okay with that, I just- I’m not okay with losing who I was entirely.”

Harry licks his lips, drops the piece of garland in his hands to the ground at his feet, and then lifts both hands to cradle Niall’s face. God, he’s beautiful, and wondrous – and his. “Does it mean that much to you?”

“Right now, yes,” Niall whispers. “Maybe it won’t in five years, maybe it won’t next year, but- It means everything to me right now.”

Harry kisses him softly, slowly; savours the taste of peppermint on Niall’s lips. “I’ll talk to everyone. I’m sure we can come up with some sort of compromise.”

Niall curls his arms around Harry’s waist and pulls him close, presses their foreheads together and nips a chaste kiss from Harry’s lips. “Thank you. And- I’m sorry if I was a prick earlier. Louis just – drives me mad sometimes.”

“He does that on purpose, y’know.”

“I know.”

X

Harry starts with Simon. Niall knows this in part because Harry had said that he would, but also because he’d followed Harry down to Simon’s office. And now here he is, standing outside the room in the corridor, listening in as Harry explains the situation to Simon.

“You do realize that you’re asking us to put aside centuries upon centuries of rules and regulations by The Clave, for one person, right?” Simon ponders.

“Yes,” Harry breathes in response. “I’m aware, though, that that one person has given up everything for us. He put his life on the line to save all of mankind. And we haven’t given him very much in return, have we? So, yes- I’m well aware that these rules and regulations have been in place for centuries – but I’m also well aware that after everything he’s been through for us, breaking one rule for him is the least we can do.”

Simon remains silent.

“Besides- What’s The Clave really going to do to us for putting up a few decorations?”

“They could fire me.”

“They also could have fired you for risking the safety of mankind by letting Niall fall into Abaddon’s hands,” Harry points out.

Simon hums. “Fair enough. We’ll talk to everyone at dinner.”

Harry makes a soft sound of victory.

“However, Harry, if there are too many people against it, then I won’t do it.”

“All Niall needs is an opportunity. Thank you, Simon.”

“Also, tell your boyfriend that next time he wants to eavesdrop, he should just come inside.”

Niall feels a bit sheepish when Harry joins him in the corridor less than a moment later. It’s been nearly 8 months, and he still forgets that the shadowhunters can feel the demon blood in him – which means that he can’t get away with a damn thing around here.

Harry smiles at him as he lets the door close behind him – and Niall finds himself within the confines of Harry’s arms within a matter of seconds. “Thank you,” he murmurs, lips brushing against the curve of Harry’s neck.

X

“So- I’d like to do a Secret Santa,” Niall says to a room full of shadowhunters over dinner later that evening. They’ve all – or, well, nearly all – agreed to at least entertain Niall’s desire to celebrate Christmas, and now he needs to give them a reason to get excited about it. And doing a Secret Santa, he thinks, is probably going to be the easiest way to get a bunch of shadowhunters involved, if for no other reason than it would give them a bit of mystery during the holiday season.

“What the bloody hell is that supposed to be?” Louis asks, sitting directly across the table from him. He’s a cheeky bugger.

“Basically, I’ve put everyone’s name into a hat,” Niall starts to explain, as he produces a red and white Santa hat out from underneath his chair. “I’ll go around the room and everyone will pick out a name. If you get your own name, then you pick another one and then put your name back. Whoever you choose is who you get a gift for – and whatever you do, don’t tell anyone who your person is until Christmas Day, which is when we exchange the gifts.”

“That actually sounds quite fun,” Liam hums from across the table, next to Louis.

“It does, actually, yeah?” Jade agrees.

The rest of the table falls into collective murmurs and whispers as every shadowhunter in the room starts to talk about it amongst themselves. And, Niall thinks, that perhaps Christmas won’t be so bad this year after all.

X

There’s flour everywhere. All over the counters, up and down his clothes, in his hair. He’s a little surprised, in fact, that any of it even made it into the bowl.

It’s been a while since he’s baked. Actually, it’s been a while since he’s been in the kitchen at all, seeing as he hasn’t exactly had the time, nor the reason.

The Institute has a massive kitchen. (Niall makes a mental note to spend more time in here from time to time.)

“What are you doing?”

Niall looks over his shoulder towards the entrance between the dining hall and the kitchen to find Harry, as he knew it would be because he’d recognize that voice anywhere, leaning against the doorframe, hands shoved deep into the front pockets of his jeans. He’s covered in dirt, and what looks like grease – but might actually be demon blood, having just gotten back from handling a situation with Louis. 

“You look fantastic,” Niall smirks. And- He does actually mean that, thinks Harry looks extra incredibly hot when he’s just been fighting demons – it’s sort of a mutual kink they have for each other, which is why Harry smirks back as he comes closer, closing the gap between them. “And- I’m baking,” Niall responds, answering Harry’s first question. “It’s not Christmas without shortbread cookies.”

Harry slides up behind Niall, presses the length of himself against the length of Niall as he rests his chin on Niall’s shoulder and his hands against the counter on both sides of Niall’s body. “This is really important to you, isn’t it?” he murmurs.

Niall sort of melts against him; a tendency he doesn’t know how to prevent, even now, six months after they’d finally figured each other out.

“Why?” Harry asks softly. “Not that- I don’t mean to be rude, I just- I want to understand you.”

Niall pushes back against him gently until Harry takes a step back, and then he turns away from where he’s got the dough rolled out on the counter and the cookie cutters at the ready to face his boyfriend. He hooks each of his index fingers around a belt loop on Harry’s jeans and tugs him closer once more, presses his lips against Harry’s, just shy of where the definite demon blood is streaked across his cheek. “You do understand me,” he whispers. “Probably more than anyone, which is why you understand that this is important to me.”

“But why is it important to you? What am I missing?”

Niall takes a deep breath, and then- “Christmas was always really important to my family. No matter where anybody was, or what everybody was doing, we all came home for Christmas. Always. But I can’t go home for Christmas this year without potentially putting everyone I love there in danger right now, so- I just- I feel like I need to surround myself with it. It’s the last thing I have that reminds me of what my life was like before all of…this, and if I don’t hold onto that, I feel like I’ll go mad.”

Harry looks down between them, at where their hips are all but molded together. “Do you regret it? Becoming one of us, and-“

“No,” Niall says honestly. “Because it’s who I am. As much as I loved my life before this, I never felt completely right – and now I do. It’s just… It’s hard to get used to, is all.”

“I could have gone home with you, y’know,” Harry murmurs as he lifts his gaze back up to look at Niall properly. “That way, if anything happened, I would have been there too and-“

“I know you don’t know this, Haz,” Niall starts, smirking, “But offering to come home with me for Christmas to spend it with my family is sort of a big deal where I’m from.”

Harry raises a curious eyebrow. “Is it?”

Niall nods.

“Why?”

“It’s just, like- A big step in romantic relationships. Second to meeting the parents for the first time, which you already have, spending Christmas with each other’s families is just – huge.”

Harry blinks. “Are we not there yet?”

Niall smiles. “I’m there. Guess I just wasn’t sure if you would have been too.”

Harry leans forward, presses their foreheads together. “I’m there too,” he whispers.

“Good. However, it still could have been dangerous. Also- I need you to clean yourself up because I want to make a gingerbread house, so I need you to get some more ingredients out of the pantry-“

“You want to make a _what_?”

Niall grins. “A gingerbread house.”

Harry’s brows furrow in confusion. “What the bloody hell is that?”

Niall laughs. This is going to be so much fun.

X

“Hey, Payno, I-“ Niall cuts himself off as he finds himself staring at Santa Claus. Or, rather, at Liam dressed as Santa Claus, standing in the middle of Liam’s bedroom. He looks from Liam to Louis, who’s sitting cross-legged on the bed behind him, and then back to Liam. “Um-“

“It’s not what it looks like,” Louis says.

Niall raises his hands in a sort of mock surrender. “I mean- I’m not going to judge-“

“No, like, it’s really not what it looks like,” Liam reiterates.

“I was just helping him get into the suit,” Louis explains. “And now I can’t stop looking at him because he looks absolutely ridiculous.”

Liam frowns. “You said I looked good.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “You’re wearing a fucking Santa suit, Liam.”

Niall’s brow furrows in confusion. “Why did you even get one?”

“I thought it would be cool,” Liam shrugs. “I was thinking that I can dress up on Christmas Day and hand out everybody’s presents. Might even get myself a sleigh.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Louis snickers.

Liam scoffs as he faces Niall completely, hands on his hips. “What do you think, Niall?”

Niall finds himself smiling – mostly because he never thought he’d see the day where Liam dressed up as Santa Claus. But also because everyone seems to be in the Christmas spirit now, including Louis even if he pretends that he isn’t; the grin on his face as he looks at Liam says it all. “I think it’s amazing,” he admits.

“Thank you, Niall. At least somebody appreciates me.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t appreciate you, Liam,” Louis sighs. “In fact, I really do appreciate how much of dork you are.”

Liam rolls his eyes. “Anyways,” he mutters, pulling the hat off of his head. “Was there something you wanted?”

Niall blinks. “Oh, um, I… I don’t remember. I’ll find you if I do, though, yeah? Carry on.”

Upon leaving the room – and leaving Louis and Liam to bicker some more over Liam’s costume – Niall bumps, quite literally, into Harry in the corridor.

Harry raises an eyebrow in light of the voices getting louder behind the door, as he presses a kiss to Niall’s lips. “What’s going on in there?”

“Liam is dressed as Santa Claus, and Louis is taking the piss out of it.”

Harry hums. “So- Nothing too out of the ordinary, then.”

X

It’s finally – _finally_ – Christmas Day.

Liam dresses up as Santa Claus, as he said he would, and hands out everybody’s gifts – which he hauls around inside of a sleigh he won’t tell anyone how he got. He goes around the room, hands presents out one by one, leaving ‘ _ho ho ho_ ’s and ‘ _ha ha ha_ ’s in his wake.

Niall wonders, to himself, and only for a laugh, if perhaps Liam has missed his calling. Maybe next year Niall will take him to the mall and show him a mall Santa.

“Alright, Niall,” Liam says, as he turns away from Harry to look at him. “You’re up – last, but certainly not least, except the gift from your secret Santa was too big to fit in the sleigh, so just give me a mo’.”

Niall watches, brow furrowed in confusion as Liam jogs across the sitting room towards the double doors that lead out to the foyer.

“Okay, but seriously,” Perrie chirps from where she’s lying across the floor in front of the tree Niall and Harry had put up last week, with her legs crossed and her head in Jade’s lap. “Who the bloody hell got me a _vibrator_?”

Harry snorts, raises his hand. “That would be me. Thought you should have something to help you out every now and then, now that Zayn up and left The Clave.”

The entire room squawks in disbelief – and then laughs hysterically. Perrie hugs the vibrator to her chest.

But Niall’s gaze, and all of his attention, is lost on them the moment his parents – his gift – walk through the door behind Liam. His breath gets caught in his throat when he sees the tears shining in his mother’s eyes, and his chest tightens when his father smiles. He takes a breath, and licks his lips. “Wh- What’s going on?”

“I couldn’t think of anything to get you.” It’s Louis. Louis, who’s standing on the other side of the room next to the window, shoulder against the wall. “You already have everything you want – except your parents here for Christmas. So, I called them, set up a portal, and- Here they are.”

“Jesus, Tommo,” Niall breathes, pushing himself to his feet.

“I know that I was against this whole Christmas thing in the beginning, but- I get it now. And I get why it’s important to you.”

“You’re brilliant,” Niall murmurs. And then suddenly his mum is within the confines of his arms, and his da’s arms around the both of them. He’s only vaguely aware of the rest of his family cheering all around him.

 

Christmas dinner consists of the usual fixings; roasted turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce and Yorkshire pudding. Dessert consists of everything from pies and cakes, to tarts and cookies and chocolate, peppermint bark.

Everybody loves it. Everybody also seems to really be enjoying themselves as well.

The only person missing is Simon – who isn’t missing for long, as he comes barreling into the dining hall halfway through dessert. “We have a situation,” he says calmly. “Demons have been reported at Heathrow. I need four of you to go check it out.”

Usually there’s a fight among shadowhunters before Simon picks and chooses who stays and who goes. Today, however, not a single person scrambles to their feet; bellies too stuffed, probably, and spirits too high.

In the end, Liam, Louis, Harry and Niall volunteer – however grudgingly, surprisingly – to go. (Niall hugs and kisses his parents and promises to be back soon before he disappears, with the others, through a portal.)

And, well, just like that, Niall supposes that not everything can be absolutely perfect on Christmas Day.


End file.
